Seguin, TX — May 20, 2024, Mary Derrick was injured following an 18-wheeler accident at around 4:11 p.m. along Interstate 10.
Initial details from authorities say that the crash happened in the area of West Juan Seguin Highway and F.M. 725.
According to officials, 69-year-old Mary Derrick was in a Toyota Rav4 going southbound along F.M. 725. At the eastbound I-10 service road, authorities say an 18-wheeler failed to yield at a stop sign, and the 18-wheeler collided with Derrick’s vehicle. As a result, Derrick had serious injuries.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
In preliminary statements, authorities said that the truck may have gone through the stop sign because the truck driver lost their brakes. Frankly, that could just be an excuse to try and cover up something more likely, such as distracted driving. But even if brake failure did lead to the accident, that’s not necessarily as unavoidable as it may sound.
Vehicle maintenance is a common issue when it comes to commercial vehicle accidents, and it’s one that authorities aren’t always able to handle on their own. For example, I had a case a while back where a truck broke down in the middle of a highway, and someone crashed into it. Authorities wrote off the mechanical issue as unavoidable, but our independent investigations showed it was entirely foreseeable. Records showed the trucking company had neglected necessary repairs for months, meaning a catastrophic failure was entirely predictable and could have been avoided. Instead, the company took the risk to try and save their bottom line only for someone to get hurt.
It’s possible nothing like that happened here, and it’s even possible this is a rare event involving something like a manufacturing defect the truck driver couldn’t have possibly foreseen. Ultimately, it’s going to be up to the evidence say for certain how all of this could have been avoided. If authorities aren’t being more thorough behind the scenes than these initial statements suggest, getting that evidence may require more experienced independent investigators.
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